Cyndi Lauper, Linda Perry and Toby Keith are set to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015. Tragic Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia and his frequent collaborator Robert Hunter will also be feted, as will country songwriter/producer Bobby Braddock and late blues star Willie Dixon.
Songwriters Hall of Fame President & CEO Linda Moran says, "Our 2015 lineup of inductees represents the rich diversity of American musical styles - Rock, Country, Blues and Pop - that have captivated the world over the past six decades. Each one of these brilliant music creators have written instantly recognisable classics, songs that are both of their time and timeless."
The Class of 2015 will be honoured at the organisation's 46th annual Induction and Awards Dinner in New York City on 18 June (15).
Gloria Estefan and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds were among the artists who missed out on inductions after being shortlisted for the honour in October (14).
The Songwriters Hall of Fame features the likes of Hal David and Burt Bacharach, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen.

Romantic comedies: the genre we love, but don’t always like to admit we love. Let’s take a look back through all the countless meet-cutes, misunderstandings, and happily-ever-afters, and see how far we’ve come.
It Happened One Night
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We like to call this the “O.G. romantic comedy.” Released in 1934 and starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, this film established the blueprint for all future rom-coms. It was also the first film to get a grand slam at the Oscars – Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. Best of all? It still holds up today! (And it’s streaming on Amazon Prime now, so go watch it).
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
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These two were paramours on screen and off. Perhaps that’s why their romantic comedies with each other were so great. They paired up for a bunch of them in the 1940s and 50s (the best being 1942’s Woman of the Year) and perfected that whole opposites attract, bickering/bantering thing we’ve come to know and love in all our modern day rom-coms.
Rom-Coms Go Dark
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The 1960s saw the rise of the dark romantic comedy. i.e.- The Apartment and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. They’re romantic, they’re comedic, but they’re touched with some sadness, too.
Doris Day and Rock Hudson
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Conversely, the 1960s also saw the popularity of light, wholesome romantic comedies starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Their 1959 film Pillow Talk kicked things off.
Woody Allen
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The neurotic auteur put his own stamp on the genre in the 1970s with flicks like Annie Hall. But while we won’t be taking romantic advice from Woody Allen any time soon, we will be taking fashion cues from Diane Keaton.
Meg Ryan and the Faux Orgasm
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We’ll have what she’s having. Meg Ryan single-handedly revitalized the genre with that famous scene in 1989’s When Harry Met Sally. She continued to be America’s rom-com darling all through the 90s alongside Tom Hanks in films like Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail.
Pretty Woman
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Pretty Woman was one of the biggest moneymakers of 1990 and remains one of the most successful films of the genre. Julia Roberts stars as a hooker with a heart of gold, who finds love with the rich businessman who initially hires her as an escort. Ya know, just your classic fairytale romance.
The Pre-McConaissance Rom-Com
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Before True Detective and Dallas Buyers Club established Matthew McConaughey as a “serious” actor, he was the go-to male lead in a slew of frivolous yet enjoyable romantic comedies including The Wedding Planner, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Never forget…
The Ensemble Rom-Com
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Like a regular romantic comedy, only with a billion famous people and just as many flimsy plotlines. Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve are what we like to refer to as ensemble rom-coms. Really, it’s like 15 rom-coms for the price of one.
The Critically-Acclaimed Awards-Bait Rom-Com
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A rare breed to be sure, but 2012's Silver Linings Playbook proved these films do exist. It wasn't explicitly billed as a romantic comedy, but anyone who’s seen the film knows that’s exactly what it was. Only, you know, slightly better than average with a side of Jennifer Lawrence.
Indie Romantic Comedies
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Rom-coms for the more artistic set, where the structure isn’t always linear and the endings aren’t always happy. Films like (500) Days of Summer, Celeste and Jesse Forever, and Obvious Child fit the bill. We predict more of these in the genre’s future.
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What's YOUR favorite moment in romantic comedy history? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!
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Brandon Stoddard, the TV mogul behind ground-breaking miniseries Roots and The Winds Of War, has died, aged 77. The one-time ABC Entertainment president lost his battle with cancer at his home in Bel-Air on Monday (22Dec14).
His death comes nine months after he was inducted into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in March (14).
Stoddard was named president of ABC in 1985 and held the post for four years before he resigned.
Dubbed the "father of the miniseries", Stoddard also developed ratings hits The Thorn Birds, Rich Man, Poor Man, Roots: The Next Generation and North and South.
He was also head of the network when beloved shows like Thirtysomething, The Wonder Years, Full House and Roseanne hit the air, as well as cult dramas Twin Peaks and My So-Called Life.
Stoddard also taught at the University of Southern California.

The Who guitarist Pete Townshend missed the band's 50th anniversary celebration concert in London on Tuesday (11Nov14) because he was busy looking after his dogs. Frontman Roger Daltrey organised the tribute to mark the band's milestone and raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, but Townshend was noticeably absent from the gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.
During the show, Daltrey told the audience his bandmate was "at home looking after the dogs" before adding, "I think he'd rather do anything than hear his songs played back to him! He doesn't like playing them himself."
The evening featured a star-studded line-up playing the band's hits, including rocker Liam Gallagher, who returned to the spotlight for the first time since disbanding his group Beady Eye, to perform The Who's My Generation - a song he often covered with Oasis.
Other performers included Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, Def Leppard rocker Joe Elliott and Wilko Johnson.
The gig also featured video tributes from Sir Paul McCartney and Iggy Pop along with performances from comedians Johnny Vegas and Rich Hall.

Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley and Kix Brooks have sent their condolences to fellow country singer Rachel Bradshaw after her husband, American football star Rob Bironas, was killed in a car crash on Saturday night (20Sep14). The former Tennessee Titans kicker lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a line of trees in Nashville, Tennessee before his car overturned.
He was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was subsequently pronounced dead at the age of 36.
Police have not found any evidence to suggest alcohol or drugs were involved in the accident.
The news of Bironas' passing hit the country community hard and a slew of celebrity friends took to Twitter.com to pay tribute.
Upon learning of the news on Sunday morning (21Sep14), Underwood wrote, "Shocked and saddened this morning at the passing of Rob Bironas. Such a nice guy. Sending prayers and love to his family..." and Randy Houser posted, "Sad to hear of the passing of @RobBironas last night. Please pray for his wife and family."
Bentley shared a photo of himself with Bironas, who was actively involved in Nashville-based country music fundraisers and events, and in the accompanying caption, wrote, "i don't know anyone that didn't like rob bironas. lot of heavy hearts in nashville today. prayers for his family", while Brooks stated, "So sad - lost good buddy@RobBironas last night - heartbroken for dear friend @RachelTBradshaw - he was a great guy - and an amazing talent."
Charlie Daniels, Jerrod Niemann, John Rich, The Oak Ridge Boys and Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney are also among the stars who have paid tribute to the tragic sportsman.
Bironas signed with the Tennessee Titans in 2005 and remained with the team for nine seasons, during which he became the fourth most accurate kicker in National Football League (NFL) history. He was released by the Titans in March (14) and had trained during the off-season with the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bironas wed Rachel Bradshaw, the daughter of Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, in June (14).

MTV
Once a year, we're treated to a cultural event unlike any other: the MTV Video Music Awards. Some of the moments from ceremonies past will live forever in our mind, from Chris Rock joking about Jennifer Lopez and her derrière's need for more than one limousine to Diana Ross jiggling Lil Kim's exposed breast. The show knows how to provoke controversy, and has thus remained a lightning rod for pop culture discussion since it began in 1984. This list isn't about the most controversial moments in the award show's history, but the most mesmerizing live performances it gave us (some of which, yes, surely did drum up some controversy).
1. Madonna - "Like A Virgin" 1984
Possibly one of the most iconic performances ever, period. Madonna's signature wedding dress and 'boy toy' belt are still synonymous with 80s pop culture, and it's all thanks to this performance. She rolls around on the floor quite suggestively, setting the tone for what we've come to expect from both the Queen of Pop and the VMAs.
2. Madonna - "Vogue" 1990
Madonna returned to the stage in 1990, decked out in Marie Antoinette-inspired clothing, and delivered this perfectly choreographed rendition of her classic "Vogue." Though completely covered as an 18th century aristocrat, Madge still managed to sexualize the performance by shoving faces into her bosom and lifting up her skirt to allow her backup dancers a peak beneath.
3. Madonna, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott - "Like A Virgin/Hollywood Medley" 2003
Now that's how you open an award show. Or is it? The downside of this majesty: it ended up being all anyone could talk about... for ten years. I don't think anything in VMAs history earned this must discussion until the dawn of Miley. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, at the time the two biggest pop stars around, having been so clearly influenced by Madonna, took to the stage to pay homage to her 1984 VMA performance only to be joined by the Queen herself. As everyone knows, eventually the Material Girl smooched both Spears and Aguilera (though for some reason, we mostly just focus on Britney Spears) before Missy Elliott came in and got everyone dancing away the shock.
4. Beyoncé - "Love On Top" 2011
NO. SHE. DIDN'T. This was a moment I'll never forget. Beyoncé came out, annihilated the song (which is an incredible feat in and of itself, spanning six key changes in one number), but then dropped the microphone and grabbed her budding baby bump to announce her pregnancy to the world. This performance still gives me chills, and when I think about it, I can't help but want to jump up and down like Kanye does at the end. It's just perfect.
5. Miley Cyrus &amp; Robin Thicke (feat. 2 Chainz &amp; Kendrick Lamar) - "We Can't Stop/Blurred Lines/Give It 2 U" 2013
The performance that everyone knows about... so much so that my grandfather just called me to ask how he can clear "Miley Cyrus twerk" from his YouTube history. In combination with her video for "Wrecking Ball," this performance made sure everyone would be talking about Miley Cyrus for months to come. It provoked discussions about sexuality, racial appropriation, and age differences. Not to mention, it helped destroy a marriage (thus leaving us to deal with a groveling Robin Thicke).
6. Diddy, Sting, Faith Evans, 112 - "I'll Be Missing You" 1997
A tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., this is an undeniably beautiful and meangingful song. Sting coming on stage to perform the sample of "Every Breath You Take" shows more than just artists collaborating to make wonderful music, but it demonstrates the music community coming together in remembrance of loved ones.
7. Beyoncé - "Ring the Alarm" 2006
Beyoncé is a goddess. We know. Beyoncé can do no wrong. We know. At the time of this performance though, Queen Bey was just beginning to prove just how much of a force to be reckoned with she was. I distinctly remember not being familiar with this song as she descended to the stage, but this performance sold me on it. The highlight isn't the amazing trench coat she twirls around in during the beginning of performance, but that unexpected hydraulicks-inspired dance routine that she does in the middle. Girl just slayed and slaaaayed.
8. Chris Brown &amp; Rihanna - "Wall to Wall"/"Umbrella"/"Billie Jean"/"Kiss Kiss" Medley 2007
Let's go back to a time when saying "Chris Brown" and "Rihanna" in the same sentence didn't immediately present a problem and focus on this gem of a performance from 2007. The two were rising stars with some of the biggest songs of the year, joining forces on stage for a magical moment. Say what you will about Chris Brown, but he's the best dancer we've had around since Michael Jackson. As he table-top dances and leaps from table to table, even eventually paying tribute to MJ, we were reminded of just how good he is.
9. Lady Gaga - "Paparazzi" 2009
Ladies and gentleman, Lady Gaga has arrived. She gave the sort of performance we've come to expect from her: theatrical, filled with musical ability, bizarre, and shocking. Mostly in the way it ended, with Mother Monster hanging on stage and bleeding to "death." Um... this was truly a shocking moment, even for her.
10. Britney Spears - "I'm a Slave 4 U" 2001
What made this one memorable? For one thing, she beings the performance in a cage with a tiger. That's just the start. Then she gives us the sort of magnificent dance routine that we love so much we're willing to worship whatever she does now just in memory of a performance like this. Just as you're thinking it won't get any better, the python comes out and Britney shimmies around the stage with the albino snake around her shoulders. (Can you believe there is an entire generation of people who were only able to witness Britney performances like "Gimme More?" I shudder to think).
11. Britney Spears - "Satisfaction/Oops! I Did It Again" 2000
This performance is perfect (and by that, we mean that it's flawed in a variety of ways, but if you're looking for real singing or anything substantial, watch the Grammys and hope for the best). Watching it now, knowing that she's going to rip off that suit and hat and give us one of the best choreographed hair tosses ever recorded, we can't help but get excited. The nude body suit and that booty grab at the 2:00 mark really cemented her place as a sex icon (as if the subtle schoolgirl costume and red latex catsuit hadn't already).
12. Hole - "Violet" 1995
Courtney Love is nothing if not raw. She dedicated this performance to a slew of deceased musicians and loved ones, including husband Kurt Cobain and bandmate Kristen Pfaff, and proceeded to rock out in typical Courtney style and tried to destroy everything on the stage. This, of course, happened before she threw the contents of her purse at Madonna and struck up a conversation in the middle of an interview.
13. Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady" / "The Way I Am" 2000
Eminem made a statement in 2000 by proving that he was the real Slim Shady, marching through Radio City Music Hall with a sea of imitators. More impressively is how many times he grabs his crotch. You'd think he was in genuine fear of being assaulted or something.
14. Kid Rock (feat. Run-DMC, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Joe C.) - "King of Rock"/"Rock Box"/"Bawitdaba"/"Walk This Way" 1999
What's not to like about this performance? As much as I wish I didn't like Kid Rock, I have to give him his props. This performance was stellar, and is probably one of the only performances on this list that my brother enjoyed watching too (just kidding, we mentioned Britney Spears stripping into a nude bodysuit, right?).
15. Michael Jackson - Medley 1995
At a whopping fifteen minutes long, this performance is more of a Michael Jackson concert than a VMA performance. However, it's definitely one of the better ways to spend fifteen minutes, as this performance is jam-packed with everything you'd expect from a Michael Jackson performance. He is the King of Pop, after all.

Former fighting foes Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield are set to meet in Las Vegas again when The Hangover star inducts his longtime rival into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. Seventeen years after Tyson infamously nibbled off part of Holyfield's ear in a 1997 championship bout, the boxer-turned-actor and promoter will be on hand to salute Holyfield on 9 August (14).
The two former boxers have since patched up their differences and have become friends.
Rich Marotta, the president of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, tells the Los Angeles Times, "This is the kind of thing we showed is possible in boxing last year at our inaugural induction ceremony - former and even current rivals coming together under the same roof to celebrate boxing. Everyone checks those rivalries at the door. Tyson presenting Holyfield is sheer magic."
Holyfield will join Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Larry Holmes, Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard, among others, who were inducted into the Hall of Fame last year (13).

Country hitmakers John Anderson, Paul Craft, Tom Douglas and Gretchen Peters are set to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The four musicians will be feted by officials at the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) at the Music City Center in the Tennessee capital in October (14).
Pat Alger, Chairman of the NSAI Board of Directors, says, "Here in Nashville where the music industry has always been built on a foundation of great songs written by legendary songwriters, each year only a few are elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"This year we are very pleased to welcome the class of 2014: Tom Douglas and Gretchen Peters in the songwriter category; Paul Craft in the veteran songwriter category and John Anderson as our songwriter/artist."
Douglas is known for penning songs for Martina McBride, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw and Miranda Lambert, who scored huge success with The House That Built Me, while Peters wrote McBride's Independence Day and The Chill Of An Early Fall for George Strait.
Craft famously created Ray Stevens' novelty smash It's Me Again, Margaret and singer/songwriter Anderson is famed for tracks like Swingin, Seminole Wind and Shuttin' Detroit Down, which he co-wrote for John Rich.
Last year's (13) honourees included Alabama star Randy Owen and singer Jeffrey Steele.

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Over the almost 50 years of Saturday Night Live, there have been plenty of seasons that were good (more than most casual observers would like to admit) and bad (some spectacularly so). There was, though, only one 1984: quite possibly the strangest season in the history of the show.
With Eddie Murphy completely gone to pursue his superstar movie career and the second most recognizable cast member, Joe Piscopo, having worn out his welcome after the 1983 - '84 season, executive producer Dick Ebersol was left without a star. The remaining cast members, including a young Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jim Belushi, had never quite fit in with the show and were largely dissatisfied with the way that they had been treated. Many people figured that Murphy leaving would finally signal the death knell for SNL.
Righting a Wrong
Instead of trying to develop another young talent like Murphy, Ebersol turned to more established comedians, including one who had almost been part of the original SNL cast. By 1984, Billy Crystal was already a well known entertainer after his stint on the sitcom Soap and his numerous talk show appearances where he imitated celebrities like boxer Mohammed Ali, but in 1974 Crystal had been cut from the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the eve of the show's debut. Why that happened depends largely on who tells the story, but whatever the case, when Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd rocketed to fame, Crystal wasn’t with them. Nor was he offered the spot that went to Bill Murray when Chase left after the first season. Ten years later, Crystal was finally being given the chance to right what he considered a wrong.
The Rest of the Gang
Along with Crystal, Ebersol brought in Martin Short, who had already been a cast member of Canada's SCTV (which launched the careers of John Candy, Rick Moranis, and Catherine O'Hara), as well as Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, fresh off their success in This Is Spinal Tap. Rich Hall, who had been part of an ensemble HBO comedy show called Not Necessarily the News, and Pamela Stephenson, who had been on the British precursor (Not the Nine O'clock News) of Hall's HBO show rounded out the new cast members. It was an odd turn of events considering that Crystal hosted SNL twice the season before he joined the cast, while Guest and Shearer had made a guest appearance as part of Spinal Tap.
The Season
Crystal, Short, and Guest wasted little time putting their stamp on the creative vacuum that they walked into. Ebersol was by all accounts a very good network executive, but he was not a comedian and didn’t come from a creative background. By the season opener, Crystal was already doing his Fernando Lamas impression ("You look mah-velous!") and Short had brought his Ed Grimley character with him from SCTV. By the third show, Crystal and Guest had worked up a breakout routine with their characters Willie and Frankie, who would continuously one-up each other with pain-inducing practices ("I hate it when that happens"). The show never missed a chance to exploit the new popular sketches — a hallmark of the Ebersol era — with Crystal doing his Fernando so frequently that the character almost deserved a separate credit in the opening theme.
More than any season before or since, the show relied on pre-taped segments, with Guest, Shearer, and Short preferring to work that way. While it went against the grain of SNL, some of the short films, particularly Shearer and Short playing aspiring male synchronized swimmers and Guest and Crystal portraying aged Negro League baseball stars were as good as anything that the show had produced.
The Oddness
Perhaps the best remembered episode of the season is the one hosted by wrestler Hulk Hogan and Mr. T to promote the first Wrestlemania. In the most famous segment, the pair appears with Crystal on his "Fernando Hideaway" sketch and can't keep a straight face. While Murphy returned to host and the Beatles' Ringo Starr took a turn, the other hosts included figures like Jesse Jackson, Howard Cosell, and Bob Uecker. The first show of the season didn't even have a host.
Additionally, there was little continuity with the show's fake news segment — called "Saturday Night News" instead of "Weekend Update" — with the show's host sometimes doing the anchoring and real newscaster Edwin Newman sitting in once before Guest finally took over midway through the season.
In stark contrast to the hosts, the seasons musical guests were a who's who of mid-80s pop, with acts like The Thompson Twins, Billy Ocean, Bryan Adams, and super-groups The Honey Drippers (featuring Robert Plant), and Power Station (featuring Robert Palmer) all making appearances.
The Aftermath
When an industry-wide writers' strike halted production in early March 1985, the show didn’t return from the forced hiatus. The abbreviated season ended after just 17 episodes. NBC was unhappy with spiraling production costs and Ebersol was unhappy with his creative staff. Shearer had quit the show in January citing creative differences ("I was creative and they were different," he said later). Short and Guest didn't want to keep doing a live show. Louis-Dreyfus and Belushi (along with fellow holdover Mary Gross) had been used so little throughout the season that they wanted out. Crystal, enjoying the biggest success of his career, was seemingly the only one who wanted it to continue.
Ebersol demanded a retooling, wanting to change the format to a completely taped show and with possibly a fixed rotation of guest hosts (his ideas for the rotation included Piscopo and David Letterman). Instead, NBC briefly canceled the show. After rethinking things, the network's executives decided that they would agree to give SNL another chance… if its original creator, Lorne Michaels, would take back over.
Then and Now
Eventually, Michaels agreed to return to the show and retained none of the cast or writers from the previous season. Taking a page from Ebersol's book, Michaels tried to use established actors like Randy Quaid and Anthony Michael Hall (along with Robert Downey Jr. and Joan Cusack) to re-launch the show… which very nearly did lead to the show being canceled permanently. It wasn't until the following season when Michaels entrusted SNL to virtual unknowns like Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Jon Lovitz, Jan Hooks, and Dennis Miller that the show started the run that finally established it as the institution it has become.
The goodwill that the show had gained from Crystal, Short and Guest's lone season helped carry it through Michaels' disastrous first season back. Thirty years later, the 1984 - '85 season remains an oddly alluring anomaly in the long comedic history of SNL.

Universal Pictures
Writer-director John Hughes was the master of the teen movie in the '80s, scoring hits with The Breakfast Club, Ferris Beuller's Day Off, and Weird Science, and working with a veritable "who's who" of young '80s actors (Matthew Broderick, Kevin Bacon, Robert Downey Jr., John Cusack, Bill Paxton, Charlie Sheen, etc.).
His teen muse, however, was Molly Ringwald. The young redhead was the star of his directorial debut, Sixteen Candles, and was the inspiration behind Pretty in Pink, which Hughes' wrote and produced. It's been 30 years since the release of Sixteen Candles and 28 since Pretty in Pink, yet each movie has maintained an audience across the decades. Which one, though, is more relevant if you were seeing it for the first time right now?
Sixteen Candles
Ringwald's Samantha Baker is having a terrible 16th birthday. Her parents forgot it entirely. Her grandparents, who are in town for her sister's wedding, are commenting about her "boobies" and bring along a horndog foreign exchange student (Gedde Watanabe). She's got a freshman geek (Anthony Michael Hall) chasing after her, and in exchange for leaving her alone takes a pair of her panties to show off to the other nerds... for a dollar apiece. Worse than all of the other indignities, though, is the fact that she's totally in love with a senior (Michael Schoeffling) who's dating the most popular girl in school (Haviland Morris).
In other words, it's just about every teen girl's worst nightmare, something that really hasn't changed much in the ensuing years. The film is fanciful and fun, with jokes that are both clever and corny. It's the sort of movie that provides mothers and daughters talking points for everything from love to sex to body image issues. Feeling like you're completely on your own as a teenager and that nobody really cares about or appreciates you is a rite of passage for everyone, as are those first heart-stopping crushes. Youthful insecurity is fairly timeless.
Pretty in Pink
Hughes took a (slightly) more grounded view of a young girl's high school experience in Pink. Ringwald plays Andie, a girl from the poor side of town who makes her own clothes and has to take care of her down-on-his-luck father (Harry Dean Stanton). She works in a music store and hangs out with an eccentric friend named Duckie (Jon Cryer), as she tries to just make it through until she can go to college for fashion design. But then she falls for one of the rich kids (Andrew McCarthy), and has to deal with the very obvious class distinctions that are continually pointed out by his obnoxious friend (James Spader). Unlike the lead in Sixteen Candles, Andie doesn't need recognition from anyone, definitely doesn't want to be pitied ,and is perfectly capable of standing up for herself. She's conscious of Duckie's feelings, but she neither patronizes him nor leads him on. When McCarthy's Blane backs out of their prom date, she goes it alone (and, okay, with a little help from the Duck).
Essentially, Andie is that quiet girl in high school who blossoms in college and doesn’t go to reunions because she's too busy with a great career. It's a little hard to get past the very '80s wardrobe, although it has a killer soundtrack (OMD's "If You Leave" still makes anyone over 40 nostalgic for their own prom). In the end, though, Andie is a realistic teen heroine who, unlike say Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games, navigates through a world that is not terribly different from the present and does it by empowering herself. That's not a bad lesson for any young woman to learn.
Both of the teen classics have relevance to a modern audience in their own way, although the jokiness of Sixteen Candles probably helps it translate a little bit easier. That’s what we think, but now it's your chance. Vote below to tell us which of Hughes' teen comedies has remained more relevant.
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